Brassiere with adjustable straps and cup support

ABSTRACT

A garment construction employing features incorporated into various garments such as brassieres, swimsuits, dresses, nightgowns, athletic supports for men and the like with the features including a novel buckle structure, adjustable supporting straps, reinforcing cups and a rearrangement of detachable fasteners to facilitate use of the garment.

United States Patent Inventor Winton C. Chiu 1901 E. 23rd St., Oakland, Calif. 94606 App]. No. 791,998 Filed Jan. 17, 1969 Patented Nov. 30, 1971 BRASSIERE WITH ADJUSTABLE STRAPS AND CUP SUPPORT 4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs. U.S. Cl 128/467, 2/67, 128/480, 2/323, 128/510, 24/68 Int. Cl A4lc 3/10, A41d 25/16 Field of Search 128/477.

[56] References Cited UN 11 ED STATES PATENTS 2,616,083 11/1952 ELIuri 128/477 2,734,193 2/1956 Croxall 128/487 3,115,141 12/1963 Means et a1... 128/484 3,115,878 12/1963 Markham 128/510 2,044,623 6/1936 Moran 128/487 3,311,112 3/1967 Murray 128/425 Primary Examiner Richard A. Gaudet Asxislan! Examiner-.1. B. Mitchell Allorneys-Clarence A. O'Brien and Harvey B. Jacobson BRASSIERE WITH ADJUSTABLE STRAPS AND CUP SUPPORT The present invention generally relates to garments which for the purpose of illustration is disclosed as a brassiere having a novel assembly of components which include features which enhance the supporting characteristics of the garment, enable adjustment thereof to fit various wearers and fastening arrangement enabling the garment to be easily donned or removed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a garment incorporating a pair of open topped cups receiving reinforcing cups for forming breast cups in a brassiere.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a garment in accordance with the preceding object together with a novel adjustable supporting strap arrangement including shoulder straps with breast cup supporting straps at the forward end thereof and diverging extension straps at the rear thereof to provide adequate adjustment for size and support in an optimum manner.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a garment construction in accordance with the preceding objects in which the chest encircling band is provided with detachable fasteners at the sides thereof to facilitate manipulation of the fasteners as compared with the location of the fasteners at the rear of the chest encircling band.

Still another important object of the present invention is to provide a buckle structure incorporated into a garment structure having facility for adjustably receiving several straps attached thereto with this buckle structure being incorporated into a brassiere for allowing adjustability of the cup size and for adjusting the supporting characteristics of the brassiere. This buckle is also provided with a utility hook incorporated therein which has specific use on swimming suits, dresses, and the like to support the garment in position in overlying relation to the breast cups of the brassiere.

Still another important feature of the present invention is to provide a gannent construction which is relatively simple in construction, efficient for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to the like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. I is a perspective view of the garment construction of the present invention with portions thereof broken away;

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the construction of FIG. 1 with portions thereof broken away for clarity;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 33 of FIG. 1 illustrating further structural details of the breast cup and the reinforcing cups therein;

FIG. 4 is a fragmental perspective view illustrating further structural details of the breast cup and supporting strap assembly associated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the reinforcing cups inserted into the open top breast cup;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of one type of buckle employed for connecting the shoulder straps and breast cup supporting strap;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of another form of buckle;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of another form of buckle employing a hook thereon for engagement with a dress, swimsuit or the like; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating a modified structure.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the garment construction in the form of a brassiere is generally designated by numeral 10 and includes a pair of breast cup structures I2 at the forward end thereof, a chest encircling strap 14 extending therefrom and associated fastening means 16 thereon and shoulder strap assemblies 18 connected thereto for supporting the brassiere 10 in position on the wearer.

The shoulder strap 18 each include an elongated flexible and relatively narrow strap 20 constructed of any suitable material compatible with the garment in which the shoulder strap is incorporated. The rear terminal end of the shoulder strap 20 includes an elastic insert 22 which is attached to a chest encircling strap or band 24 which is relatively wide and also constructed of fabric material or the like with the chest encircling band 24 including a center rear seam 26. Extending downwardly from the shoulder strap 20 in diverging relation is a pair of straps 28 attached to the strap 20 by stitching or the like and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom in a diverging manner. The lower ends of the straps 28 each have an elastic insert 30 incorporated therein that is attached to the chest band 24 thus connecting the strap to the rear portion of the chest band 24 in a resilient manner and in a manner that will retain the shoulder straps 20 generally in perpendicular relation to the chest band 24.

The chest band 24 includes separable ends 32 and 34 which has a plurality of hooks 36 and loops or eyes 38 mounted thereon for detachable interconnection. A flap 40 underlies the loops or eyes 38 to skin of the wearer from contact with the fastening means 16. It is noted that the fastening assembly 16 is oriented to the side of the garment in an area generally along the side of the wearer so that access may be more easily had to the fastener assembly 16.

The forward ends of the shoulder straps 20 are each connected to a buckle structure 42 which includes a generally rectangular wire rodlike frame 44 having an entrance opening 46 in the upper edge thereof and a pair of entrance openings 48 in the lower side portions thereof. Extending between the side portions of the frame 44 are three equally spaced transverse rods 50, 52 and 54 through which the free end of the strap 20 is threaded in a manner to adjustably connect the strap 20 to the buckle 42. Extending between the bottom of the frame 44 and the rod 54 is a pair of rods 56 and a pair of rods 58 which are spaced from each other with the pair of rods 56 disposed in angular relation to the pair of rods 58. The upper ends of the pairs of rods 56 are spaced further away from the upper ends of the pair of rods 58 than the lower ends thereof so that the pair of rods 56 converge downwardly toward the pair of rods 58 in a manner for a purpose described hereinafter. The buckle structure 42 illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 of the drawings is also illustrated in more detail in FIG. 7 of the drawings with FIG. 3 illustrating the manner in which the strap 20 can enter the opening 46 and pass under the top member of the frame 44, downwardly over the front of the rods 50 and 52 upwardly around the rod 54 and back over top rod 52 thus adjustably and frictionally connecting the strap 20 to the buckle 42 to enable the supporting characteristics of the garment to be carried by adjusting the connection of the strap 20 with the buckle 42.

Forming a continuation of the chest band 24 is an inner fabric member 60 having a hem 62 along the bottom edge thereof to which is attached an outer fabric member 64 free of the fabric member 60 except by virtue of stitching 66 which secures the hem 62 on the inner fabric member to a hem 68 on the outer fabric member 64 with additional reinforcement in the hem if desired which provides engagement with the front surface of the chest of the wearer so that the combined fabric members 60 and 64 will form breast cups.

The upper edge of the inner fabric member 60 tenninates coincident with the top edge of the chest band 24 in a reversely folded hem 70 which coacts with a reversely folded hem 72 on an upper fabric member 74. The upper fabric member 74 has the top edge thereof terminating coincident with the top edge of the outer fabric member and secured thereto by rows of stitching 76. Thus, the two reversely folded hems 70 and 72 define a slitlike opening 78 into the space or pocket 80 formed between the fabric members 60 and 64. Thus, the space 80 becomes an open top pocket for receiving a generally conical shaped reinforcing insert 82 in the form of a nylon mesh or other similar and equivalent shape sustaining material which forms and shapes the garment to effectively support the breast of the wearer in a manner which has a useful appearance and promotes air circulation due to the mesh characteristics thereof.

Extending between the breast cups at the upper edge thereof is an elastic band 84 which conforms the upper surface of each breast cup with the region of the chest of the wearer immediately above the breast. The outer edge of each breast cup has a downwardly extending elastic strap 86 attached thereto and to the chest band 24 as illustrated in FIG. 4. The outer upper comer of each breast cup defined by the fabric members 64 and 74 is beveled or inclined as at 88 with the outer edge thereof being substantially vertical and the lower edge of the inclined portion 88 terminates at the upper edge of the band 24 so that vertical stitching 90 is employed to secure the outer fabric 64 to the chest band 24. The inner edges of the fabric members 60, 64 and 74 also are inclined downwardly and inwardly as at 92 to provide a V-shaped cutout which terminates above the hems 62 and 68 with the V- shaped cutout defining the two breast cups and a center front seam 94 secures the breast cups together to stabilize the position of the components thereof with the elastic strap 84 being continuous between the breast cups and the opposite end thereof is attached to the strap 24 at the outer edge of the opposite breast cup as illustrated in FIG. 1.

A pair of breast supporting straps 96 and 98 have their upper ends attached to the buckle 42 by threaded through the rods 56 and S8 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the strap 96 extending downwardly and inwardly and the straps 98 extending downwardly and outwardly as illustrated in the front view (FIG. 2). The lower end of the outer strap 98 is provided with an elastic insert 100 that is attached to the lower edge of the chest band 24. The lower edge of the strap 96 is attached to the outer surface of the breast cup as indicated at 102 and these straps where they connect generally to define the lower extremity of the V-shaped notch defined by the inclined edges 92 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Extending perpendicularly and downwardly from the strap 96 is a strap 104 having an elastic insert in the lower end thereof as at 106 which extends into the hems 62 and 63 and stitched thereto near the center bottom of the breast cup. The strap 98 is provided with a similar inwardly extending strap 108 having an elastic insert 110 therein which is attached to the breast cup in substantially the same center region as the elastic insert 106 on the strap 104 thus providing for elastic support of the breast cups. As illustrated in FIG. 4, only the lower ends of the straps 96, 98, 104 and 108 are attached to the garment so that it is only necessary to release the straps 96 and 98 from the buckle 42 in order to disconnect the straps 98 and 96 from the shoulder strap 20. By adjusting the straps 96 and 98, the cup size may be adjusted as may the supporting characteristics of the brassiere and the shoulder straps also enable such adjustment to be accomplished. The entire structure other than the buckles and fasteners is constructed of washable material with standard techniques being employed in constructing the garment of well-known fabric materials, The buckle structure may be metal, plastic or any other suitable material and the buckle may take other forms including the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 and generally designated by numeral 112 and which includes a generally rectangular frame 114 having the lower half thereof being identical to the structural illustrated in FIG. 7 for attaching the straps 96 and 98 thereto. However, in this construction, only a single top bar 116 is provided which, in effect, corresponds with the bar 52 in FIG. 7 with the shoulder strap being attached thereto by looping the shoulder strap under the bar 116 and then adjustably anchoring it to itself by using a conventional adjustable buckle or other fastening means.

FIG. 8 illustrated another embodiment of the buckle generally designated by the numeral 118 which has the same construction as in FIG. 7 except that an additional free hook 120 is provided on one side of the rectangular frame 122 for engagement with a swimsuit, dress, nightgown or the like to support the garment in proper orientation in overlying relation to the brassiere cups. In effect, the structure of FIG. 7 has been elongated between the rod 52 and 54 by elongating the frame 122 and the free hook has been disposed between the bars 52 and S4 with the shoulder straps being attached to the buckle 118 in the same manner as in FIG. 7 and the straps 96 and 98 being attached to the lower portion of the buckle 118 in the same manner as in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The orientation of the straps may vary depending upon the size requirements of the garment and the straps 104 and 108 may actually cross at a point slightly above the lower edge of the breast cup to facilitate elastic support of the breast to provide additional and more comfortable support and to provide the desired shape characteristics thereto.

Thus, with this construction, the adjustable supporting straps provide additional lift especially to areas under the arm and chest thus promoting a fuller appearance to the bust which is quite comfortable in that intermediate sizes can be obtained by adjusting the strap. Also, the elastic inserts distribute strain over a large area rendering the device more adjustable. The use of a selected buckle construction enables effective adjustment of the straps and also enables adequate support for an overlying outer garment or the like.

A modified embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 9 in which the breast cups are provided with the opening adjacent the bottom edge thereof rather than adjacent the top edge thereof for receiving the reinforcing insert 82 which may be either cup-shaped as illustrated or of flat flexible material. In FIG. 9, the construction of the garment is illustrated in which the breast cup is formed by an outer fabric including a lower portion and a top member 132 having arcuately curved edges joined by a seam 134 to define a conical shaped cup in the same manner as the construction of FIGS. 1-5. Also, a liner including a lower member 136 and an upper member 138 is provided for the cup and an inner member 140 of fabric material is attached to the outer member by stitching 142 and is reversely folded at its upper edge 144 and extends downwardly as an inner panel 146 terminating in an entrance slit 148 by which the insert 150 may be inserted into the cup. Thus, the insert may be inserted either from the top or the bottom and additional padding may also be inserted if desired. Also, in this construction, a band of elastic cloth 152 and an elastic strap 154 provided thereon is attached to the lower edge of the cup to define a portion of the chest band.

The placement of the point of the V between the breast cups may be varied as to is elevational position to provide the desired design.

If desired, two or more rows of eyes for receiving the fastener hooks may be provided with the rows spaced apart to enable adjustment of the size of the garment. Also, all or any part of the features of the invention may be used in various types of garments. Also, where elastic members are attached to the interior surfaces of bands such as the band 24 or the band 142, there may be provided a cover material or lining to prevent abrasion of the skin.

The supporting strap may be adjusted so that the buckle is shifted sideways with the shoulder straps following thus allowing certain types of garments to be worn by keeping the supporting straps out of sight. In effect, raising the buckle would enlarge the breast cups due to the manner in which the supporting straps follow the buckle, while lowering the buckle would similarly reduce the size of the breast cups.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be restored to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a garment construction, a chest encircling band, shoulder straps connected with the band and adapted to extend over the shoulder of a wearer for supporting the band vertically in chest encircling position, said chest encircling band including a pair of breast supporting cups at the forward portion thereof with each cup including a pair of upwardly converging supporting straps, and buckle means adjustably connecting the forward ends of the shoulder straps and the upper ends of the converging straps connected with the breast cups, each of said breast supporting cups including an inner fabric member and an outer fabric member having an entrance slit adjacent the upper end thereof in the inner fabric member with the major portion of the inner and outer fabric members being free of each other thus forming pockets therebetween, and reinforcing cup-shaped inserts in said pockets for effectively supporting and shaping the breasts of the wearer.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said buckle means includes an open rectangular frame having a plurality of downwardly converging pairs of spaced rods incorporated therein for adjustably receiving the upper ends of the upwardly converging breast cup supporting straps, and at least one horizontal bar disposed at the upper end thereof for receiving the forward end of a shoulder strap, wherein all of the straps can be individually adjusted and locked into position.

3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said breast cups have a V-shaped recess defining their inner edges, a resilient strap extending across the recess, the outer edge of each cup extending above the upper edge of the band, and a resilient strap connecting the upper edge of the band with the upper outer side edge of the cup.

4. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said chest encircling band includes detachable fastener assemblies located adjacent one of the breast supporting cups, each shoulder strap and each breast cup supporting strap including an elastic insert for enabling elastic elongation of the strap and resilient support of the breast cup, a pair of downwardly and inwardly extending straps attached to the breast cup supporting straps intermediate the ends thereof with the lower ends of the downwardly extending straps being attached to the chest encircling band for additional support thereof and distribution of supporting stresses over a larger area, each of said downwardly extending straps including an elastic insert. 

1. In a garment construction, a chest encircling band, shoulder straps connected with the band and adapted to extend over the shoulder of a wearer for supporting the band vertically in chest encircling position, said chest encircling band including a pair of breast supporting cups at the forward portion thereof with each cup including a pair of upwardly converging supporting straps, and buckle means adjustably connecting the forward ends of the shoulder straps and the upper ends of the converging straps connected with the breast cups, each of said breast supporting cups including an inner fabric member and an outer fabric member having an entrance slit adjacent the upper end thereof in the inner fabric member with the major portion of the inner and outer fabric members being free of each other thus forming pockets therebetween, and reinforcing cup-shaped inserts in said pockets for effectively supporting and shaping the breasts of the wearer.
 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said buckle means includes an open rectangular frame having a plurality of downwardly converging pairs of spaced rods incorporated therein for adjustably receiving the upper ends of the upwardly converging breast cup supporting straps, and at least one horizontal bar disposed at the upper end thereof for receiving the forward end of a shoulder strap, wherein all of the straps can be individually adjusted and locked into position.
 3. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said breast cups have a V-shaped recess defining their inner edges, a resilient strap extending across the recess, the outer edge of each cup extending above the upper edge of the band, and a resilient strap connecting the upper edge of the band with the upper outer side edge of the cup.
 4. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said chest encircling band includes detachable fastener assemblies located adjacent one of the breast supporting cups, each shoulder strap and each breast cup supporting strap including an elastic insert for enabling elastic elongation of the strap and resilient support of the breast cup, a pair of downwardly and inwardly extending straps attached to the breast cup supporting straps intermediate the ends thereof with the lower ends of thE downwardly extending straps being attached to the chest encircling band for additional support thereof and distribution of supporting stresses over a larger area, each of said downwardly extending straps including an elastic insert. 